Apparatus for the production of vertical stripes on the circular type knitting frame



Oct. 18, 1932. MlLNER ET AL 1,883,811

. APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF VERTICAL STRIPES NG FRAME ON THE CIRCULAR TYPE KNITTI 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 24. 1930 i 6 9 i 5 5 5 Wm EMU. MILNE 6N0 FRANK Wan INVENTORS ATTORNEY 1,883,811 TRIPES E. MILNER ET AL Oct. 18, 1932.

APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF VERTICAL 5 ON THE CIRCULAR TYPE KNITTING FRAME Filed Jan. 24, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet Emu. MIL/YER 4ND Flmmz Win 115R INVENTOR BY 21; 884,

ATTORNEY 1,883,811 OF VERTICAL STRIPES 1932- E. MILNER ET AL APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION ON THE CIRCULAR TYPE KNITTING FRAME 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 fM/L. Mu. IVE/Z nua Filed Jan. 24, l

FRANK WALTs/z' ATTORNEY Oct. 18, 1932. E. MILNER ET AL APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF VERTICAL STRIPES ON THE CIRCULAR TYPE KNITTING FRAM Filed Jan. 24, 1930 4 Sheets$heet 4 Emu MIL/VER mm Flam/: WALTER INVENTOR 5 ATTO R N EY Patented Oct. 18, 1932 UNi're-n srATEsP rE r oreice EMIL MILNER AND FRANK wALTEaoF GERMANTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNoNs TO CONTINENTAL MILLS, INC F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA APPARATUS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF VERTICAL STRIPES ON THE CIRCULAR TYPE i r KNITTING FRAME Application filedJanuary 24,1930. Serial No. 123,083.

This invention relates to stripingattachments for. circular type knitting machines and has reference particularly to an arrange ment carried by the revolving needle cylinder for working, vertical stripes into the cylindrical fabricproduced on such na-I chines. f I

In the accompanying illustration, I have shown my improved attachment applied to w a standard type of spring needle knitting machine. In Figure V1 is a side elevational View of a section .of the bed and revolving needle cylinder showing a vertical striping attachment in thefirst step of its operation; Figure 2 is a similar view showing an advanced position of' the parts and Figure 3 shows astill further advanced position of the same parts; Figure 4 is a sectional View of the needle cylinder and elevational view 20. of the vertical striping attachment in a position corresponding to that shownin Figure 1; Figures 5 to areviews showing thendevelopment of a vertical stripe in the fabric during the production thereof; and'Figures needles and the course followed by the yarn of the fabric being knittedaswell asthat taken by the yarn forming the. vertical stripe. j 4

Referring to the drawings, 10 denotes .the stationary bed plate of a circular type knitting machine, well known inthe art. NA revolving needle dial 11' is supported over the bed 10 and a trick top 12 mounted thereadjusted .to carry the spring needles 14 in their upright positions. 1 r

The. needle dial 11. comprises a. circular plate having a depending marginal. :skirt portion-15 which terminates at itslowerend end in ,a flange 16 provided with oppositelydisposed beveled surfaces and downwardlyv directed channel pieces 17 arranged, at

spaced intervalsabout the periphery of the channel pieces 17 are determined by the number. and spacing of thestripes to be worked into the fabric. Each stripe worked into the fabric during the knitting thereof is pro- JO duced by a similar attachment and it is 1:1 and 12 are front elevational views of-the.

on, against which the needle plates 13 are dial. ,The number and spacing of these.

thought that it will suffice if only one is described.

Beferringto the Vertical striping attachment indetail, 18 denotes a vertically disposed housing formed as an integral part of the channel piece 17 and extending above and below the latter, as illustrated particularly in Figure 4. The housing 18 is provided'with a channel 19 which is increased in depth from a point just below the piece 17 and extends to the top of the housing. The housing 18 is anchored in upright position on the beveled surface of the flange 16 by! means of a pair of U-shaped clamps 20, one thereof being disposed on opposite sides ofthe housing and bearing against the beveled edge at its upper end and against the lower e nd'of the piece 17 at its other end, the clamping action being brought about by aclampscrew21 mounted in the clamp 20 and screwed into the upper portion of the channel piece 17. The inner arm of the piece 17 in each instance, is. inclined slightly inwardly towards the center of thecylinder and vcarries an angular bracket 22 for the purpose of' supporting an individual bobbin' 23. The bobbin 23 has its axis disposed at an angle directed upwardly and radially of thecylinder sothat during operation the yarn A, which is the yarn'from which the vertical stripe is worked, may be readily withdrawn, Figure 4:.-

*Slidably mountedin the channel 19 of the housing 18 is slide bar 24 which is loosely held in its" channel by means'of two face as illustratively exemplified in v platesorstrips '25 which project over the channel along its opposite upright side edges and overlie the-marginal portions of the slide the latter. Justabove the upper end of the groove 27 the bar 24 is provided with an inclined slot 28, which, looking into the front face of the attachment, projects downwardly from left to right and within the space between the inner side edges of the face pieces or strips 25. The slot 28 runs through the bar 24, and opens into the groove or channel 26. A plate 29 is adjustably mounted in the shallow groove 27 on a screw 30, which screws into a tapped opening in the bar 24 just below the lower end of the channel 26 and which projects through a slot 31 in the plate 29. The upper end of the plate 29 is provided with a transversely disposed beveled edge 32 capable of adjustment over the slot 31 to cut off any portion of its lower end. Adjacent the lower end of the bar 24, the latter carries a cam follower 33 in the form of a pin with a central flange 34 cut away on opposite sides to permit passage thereof between the face strips 25.

Slidably mounted in the upright bore formed by the channels 19 and 26 is an axially and rotary movable spindle 35, which carries a radially disposed pin 36 at a point short of its lower end to project through the inclined slot 28. The lower end of the spindle 35 is provided with an axially disposed groove 36 in which a spring linger 37 is housed for the purpose of providing frictional resistance against the housing 18 when the spindle 35 is moved up or down. The upper end of the spindle 35 is provided with a yoke 38 and longitudinal spring groove 39. A stud pin 40 is mounted at its ends in the yoke 38 and supports a yarn guide 41, which is urged to swing in the direction of the adjacent needles 14 by means of a spring 42 mounted in the spring groove 39.

The yarn guide 41 is a bell crank shaped member, the shorter arm 41 of which projects outwardly away from the needle ring, while the longer arm 43 projects directly into the needle ring. The end of the arm 41 is provided with an eye 44 through which the yarn A is threaded and passes to a cylindrical eye 45 at the extreme upper end of the arm 43. The wall of the eye 45 is tapered to a reduced diameter at its outer end so as tobe introduced into the space between adjacent needles.

14 in the operation of the device. The yarn guide 41 is swung outwardly against the tension of its spring 42 by means of cam surface 46 cut in the face of the upper end cf the needle plate 13 disposed directly in back of the attachment. The cam surface 46 com-V prises a beveled surface projecting from a point adjacent the inner plane of the plate 13 outwardly in a gentle slant to the face of the plate on a line just above the upper end of the housing 13, so that as the yarn guide 41 descends to complete its operation, the end of the arm 43 beneath the eye 45 is brought into contact with the upper end of the cam 46 and is rocked outwardly away from the plane of the needles.

The yarn A feeding to the eye 44 comes from the bobbin 23 and first passes through a tensioning member 47 projecting outwardly from the right side of the housing 18 and then through a take up eye 48. The eye 48 is a cylindrical element carried at the end of an arm 49 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 50 at the back of the housing 18 adjacent its lower end, and which is ,urged to normally swing outwardly away from the tensioning element by means of a coiled spring 51 disposed about the pin 50 to which it is attached at its outer end while its other end is anchored in the arm itself. When the yarn A is under tension as the guide'travels upwardly the arm 49 is raised until the eye 48 alines with the tensioning device, a position which releases the yarn from the latter while the necessary amount is drawn forward. The yarn guide 41 during its movement to low position, illustrated in Figures 1 and 4, carries the yarn with it and the slack in the latter is taken up by the outward movement of the arm 49 under tension of its spring 51. No additional yarn will be drawn from the bobbin 23 during outward movement ofthe arm because of grip maintained on the yarn A by the tensioning device 47.

Reciprocal movement is imparted to the slide bar 24, during its peripheral movement with the cylinder past a certain point, by means of a cam 52, which comprises an L-shaped standard 53 mounted, with its longer arm in upright position, on the bed plate 10 and supported on the upright arm is a triangular plate 54, arranged so as to bring its base parallel with the bed 10, while the inclined sides are directed upwardly and are disposed in the path of the cam follower 33. Disposed over the plate 54 and following the downward slope thereof is a second plate 55 which forms a cam slot 56 with the first plate 54 whereby the follower 33 in its circular travel after being raised along the rise in the plate 54 is engaged in the cam slot 56 and caused to move downward again to its initial position.

It will be understood that the yarns A may be introduced into the knitted fabric for every row knitted by merely utilizing one knitting attachment .or by following each attachment with a camv arrangement 52. In the present instance, however, it will'be assumed that at least four knitted rows are built up before the vertical stripe yarn A is brought into positionto become effective. 7

The operation of the attachment to introduce the vertical stripe into the fabric being knitted, will be described in connection with Figures 5 to 12. Itwill be assumed that the circle of needles 14 is traveling in a clockwise direction when viewed from the top and theindividual needles 14 before 7 a peak of the cam.

which the vertical" striping attachment is mounted are approaching a station where a new row is to be started. The beards of the and 4, while the cylindrical eye 45' is bearing on the cam surface 46 in the needle plate 13. As the camfollower 33 engages the rise in the cam 52, the slide bar 24 is-caused to move upwardly in an-axial direction and its'first movement is axially of thespindle 35, which is yieldably held by its spring connection 37, and which, therefore, is rotated to move the guide 41 from right to left as the pin 36;

moves through the slot 28. Subsequent 'upward movement of the slide bar 24 is fol lowed by the spindle-35 which is carrying the yarn A upwardly on the left side of the needle 14 to the position illustratively exemplified in Figures 2 and 6. It should be kept in mind at this stage in the operation that as the guide 41 rides off of the cam surface 46, the eye 45 swings inwardly between the needles 14. Therefore, as the eye 45 rides upwardly, the yarn is carried under the beard of the needle to a point above the latter. At this stage in the operation the follower is Continued movement of the cylinder 11 carries the follower 33 into the cam slot 56 and starts the slide bar 24 downward. The

5 initial step in this movement is to cause the spindle 35 to swing around in back of the needle before moving downwardly with the slide bar 24. This is accomplished by movement of the pin .36 in the slot 28 from the low end to the high end, as the spring 37 again exerts a yielding pressure to hold the spindle elevated while the slide bar is descending. This position is shown in Figures 3, 7 and 12. As previously described, the slack in the yarn A is taken up as the spindle descends by the arm 49.

Thus far the operations of the device have brought the yarn A around the needle 14 to the position shown in Figure 7 and thefirst position of Figure 12. At thispoint anew stitch B is being introduced in the usual manner while the old stitch B is pushed to e the lower portion of the needle as shown in the second position of Figure 12. The lowerin g of the stitch is caused by a shoe 57, shown in dotted lines in the different positions of Figure 12, which is regular equipment with this type of machine. I catches under the beards of the passing needles, as shown in Figure 9. The beards are The new stitch B stitches .B ride upwardly carrying-the loop in the yarn A over the beard to the position shown in Figure 10 and the last position of Figure 12*. f

. The needles 14 and cylinder 11 continue to travel and as previously stated a number of rows of stitches are introduced before the same vertical stripe attachment again en-.

gages thetcam 52. "Inthe meantime'the yarn A from the last loop merely follows down behind the'stitches until it is again required to form the next loop. I o

If the number of needles is to be increased,

it, follows that they will be closer together and the movement of the yarn guide 41 "must necessarily be much less. Adjustment of the plate 29 ismade to reducethe effective length of the slot so that axial movement of the slide .bar will be shorter before picking up the spindle 35' and yarn guide 41. 1

Having now described our invention, what. we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a circular spring needle knitting ma:

chine having a revolving needle cylinder and upright bearded needles therefor, the combination of an attachment to work a yarn into vertical stripe in the fabric being'knitted,

comprising a yarn guide and means for'moving the guide in a rotary direction to carry the yarn across a needle, then upwardly to bring the 'yarn under the beard of the needle then closed over the new stitches andold I and then around the back of the needleand 7 down the other side to form a loop above the last stitch of the fabric being still on the needle, so as to enable the loop to be stripped from the needle with the stitch. v

2 A knitting machine, as claimed in claim 1, which said yarn guide comprises a pivotally mounted membe'r having an eye through-which the yarn is guided about the needle.

3. A-knitting machine, as claimed in claim 1, in which said yarn guide comprises a pivotally mounted bell crank member, the ends of the arms thereof-being provided with eyes for guiding the yarn, said means for moving the guide comprising a spindle mounted for rotary and axial movement andhaving the bell crank member pivotally mounted on its upper end. v i

4. A'knitting machine, as claimed in claim 1 l, in which said yard guide comprises-a pivotallvmounted bellcrank'member having the ends of the arms thereof provided with eyes to'receive the'yarn therethrough, said means for movingthe guide comprising an upright spindle mounted for rotary-and axial movement and having. the bell crank member pivotally mounted on its upper end, ahousing anda slidebar'therefor, the housing being carried by-therevolving needle cylinder, said housing and slide bar being provided with grooves adapted to form a bore to receive the said for tensioning the yarn machine, and a yarn guide operated from the cam and supported in said housing for movement in a rotary and axial direction to carry the yarn in aloop about a needle.

6. An attachment for working a vertical stripe in a fabric as claimed in claim 5, in which the yarn guide comprises a bell crank member having eye openings at the ends of the arms, a spindle carrying the member at its upper end, a slide bar having an inclined slot and a recess to receive a portion of the spindle, said housing having another recess to rereceive the other portion of the spindle, a pin carried by the spindle and projecting through the slot in the bar, and a'cam follower on the lower end of the slide bar to engage the said cam, whereby the slide is raised to rotate the spindle and move it axially and then in a rotary and axial movement again to return the guide after the loop or yarn has been formed about the needle.

- 7. An attachment for a rotary knitting machine as claimed in claim 5, in which the cam comprises a triangular shaped plate and a second. plate spaced from the downwardly inclined side of the first plate to form a cam slot, and means mounted in the housing and carrying the yarn guide and disposed to engage the cam to reciprocate the guide.

8. An attachment for a circular spring needle knitting machine, as claimed in claim 5, in which the yarn guide comprises a bell crank member having eye openings at the ends of its arms, a spindle at the end of which the bell crank member is pivotally mounted, a slide bar for the housing and having a recess coinciding with a recess in the housing to form a bore for the spindle, a spring in the spindle yieldably attaching the latter to the housing, said bar having an in clined slot and a pin operating therein carried by the spindle to cause the latter to receive rotary movement from the axial-movement of the bar in either direction, a follower at the lower end of the slide bar, and a stationary cam disposed in the path of the follower dur ing a portion of the rotary movement of the needle cylinder to reciprocate the slide bar.

9. An attachment for working a vertical stripe in a knitted fabric, as claimed in claim 5 including means for supporting a yarn bobbin to move with the attachment, and means and taking up slack therein between the bobbin and the yarn guide.

11. An attachment for working a vertical stripe in a knitted fabric being produced on a circular spring needle knitting machine in which a needle plate mounted on the rotary needle cylinder is provided with a cam surface, and the attachment comprises a pivotally mounted yarn guide for carrying the yarn in a loop about a needle during a rotary and axial movement of the guide, said guidebeing broughtinto contact with the, cam surface of said needle plate to take it out of the space between two adjacent needles, and means for yieldably moving said yarn guide about its pivot in the direction of said cam surface. I

In testimony whereof they have affixed their signatures.

EMIL MILNER. FRANK WALTER. 

